Many of the central challenges of the 21st century are tied to place-based changes as populations move, natural resources are depleted, and climate shifts. Research in the geographical sciences is essential to monitoring, analyzing, and preparing for these changes. This public workshop will examine transformative research and other changes within the geographical sciences. For example, the development of GIS was transformative, altering everything from how we travel to what we can measure and visualize. Workshop participants will consider whether there are early markers of transformative research and how it can be nurtured and brought to fruition. This workshop will inform an expert study from the National Research Council, to be released in 2015.